After the 3 day head start, players will not be lacking gold in Guild Wars 2. Why? Because of Gems. These will be used for a variety of upgrades, which you can view at the Guild Wars 2 Gem Wiki. Higher level characters who played the initial 3 day head start will purchase gems from players who pay money for them. So, in essence, the low level characters will buy gems for money and the high level characters will buy them for gold. They may not sell well during the beginning of the head start, but by day 4 they will sell like hotcakes. Especially for low level characters who don't have access to methods for making more gold, whether it be farming or crafting.

So What Will They Spend Their Gold On?

Mark my words, leveling items will be the highest profit margins of any items in Guild Wars 2. Conversely, end game items will sell against more competition with smaller profit margins.

Buy Low, Sell Normal

It's all about Buying Low and Selling Normal. That's the key to every economy I've ever played online!

With buyout orders and selling orders, it's going to be much easier to play the Buy Low, Sell Normal strategy. Just pick out an item you can mass produce (like bags) and do the following:

Create cheap buyout orders for your materials.

Craft.

Create sell orders at normal price for your crafted goods.

That's all there is to it! In other games, you had to rely on winning bids cheap or finding super underpriced goods to buy low and then sell normal. But in Guild Wars 2, you actually get to speak to the buyers and sellers through buyout orders. Remember, normal is just the price a player expects to pay for their item. Maybe even a little cheaper than normal.

Be Unique

So how do you distinguish yourself from the crowd of buyers and sellers? You're going to want to buy and sell like this:

Buy in huge quantities so that you can place a cheaper buyout order for the items. Players will take a hit to their profits in exchange for the opportunity to get rid of ALL their items at once.

Sell in small quantities, in the amounts that players want the specific items. For bags maybe that is four items (players start the game with 4 open bag slots).

Stay Open Minded!

Keep an open mind and remember to think like an auctioneer when Guild Wars 2 comes out. Be careful playing the gem game at first as they will have inflated prices, but instead, focus on leveling items and crafted goods.

Beware end game items! They are always going to be rife with competition and small payouts compared to your crafting materials. Focus on dozens of small, fast moving niches where you can capitalize on buy low, sell normal.

That's all there is to it! In other games, you had to rely on winning bids cheap or finding super underpriced goods to buy low and then sell normal. But in Guild Wars 2, you actually get to speak to the buyers and sellers through buyout orders. Remember, normal is just the price a player expects to pay for their item. Maybe even a little cheaper than normal.